Marcus Mosiah was born in St. Ann's Bay, on the northern coast of Jamaica on August 17, 1887. A short, stocky, largely self-educated but supremely confident black man. Garvey spent most of his years as a printer. He established the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), August 1, 1914. The motto became: "One God, One Aim, One Destiny." With the need for financial funding and the desire to meet other black leaders, Marcus set his eyes on America. Garvey arrived in Harlem on March 23, 1916. He soon established UNIA branch in the states. At its peak, the UNIA boasted a membership of over 4 million strong. The Black Star Line was one of Garvey's goal. Here was an enterprise belonging to blacks, operated by and for them, that gave even the poorest black the chance to become a stockholder in a big business enterprise.

This was unheard of during these times, yet Garvey, always a visionary, pushed ahead. The Black Star Line was established as a commercial venture, and Garvey did not intend, as his critics sometimes claimed, that the Line would merely be a vehicle for the transportation of all Negroes back to their African homeland. With such large following and such ambitious ventures, Marcus soon became a threat to other more well established "black" leaders. Garvey was deemed a threat to the 'system', he was soon convicted on trumped up mail fraud charges. After serving a brief tenure in prison he was deported back to Jamaica in early December 1927. He spent his last years traveling the Caribbean and Europe, always preaching about Black Pride. He Died in England on June 10, 1940.......he was only "53 years old."